Succumb to the anime!

Finally! Some fantasy that does not (seem to) suck!

This came outta nowhere. I’d read about Deltora Quest in many of the Winter previews but wrote it off as another of those generic & cheesy fantasy shows. That’s not to say that Deltora Quest isn’t generic and cheesy. It has it’s fair amount of generic characters:

Clueless boy-hero? — check

Possibly made even more cheesy by the addition of blonde hair/blue eyes? — check!

Aloof parents who bestow special powers/items upon said hero? — check

Mysterious stranger who joins the hero on his adventure? — check

Possible love interest who joins the party? — (possible) check

Mysterious item which shines/glows/moves/ at the hero’s touch? — check

Big bad villain who is a lord of some sort and is associated with darkness/shadow — check

‘Quest’ starts off with the hero needing to find an item/power which will help him vanquish the villain? — check

Hero starts off quest by fleeing from minions of the villain — check

However (and this surprises me too!), I rather like the whole premise of the story. ‘Course, don’t take my recommendation as cold hard fact. I’m a predominant fantasy reader and, after a certain number of books you tend to look past the clichéd setting and actually focus on the whole plot (i.e. in the beginning, you may not be able to see the forest due to all the trees that look all the fucking same!).

Onto the more ‘technical’ aspects of the show:

Character Design:

I would not watch the show based upon the character designs. That is all I have to say.

Animation:

Not too shabby, I quite liked the OP with its crayon-like look. Plus, the whole illuminated-like-we-have-too-much-bloom concept in the dark was novel, I’ll give them that. But again, I would not watch the show based upon the animation.

Music:

Apart from the OP (which was !@#!@#JKSF$!@#!-ing liters of awesome), the rest of the music isn’t all the memorable, again, not an area this show scores well in.

Story:

THE WIN! Seriously. The story is the ONLY holding this show up on its feet, it’d be relegated to the deepest, darkest corner of the metaphorical closet if it weren’t for the kickass story. C’mon, you’ve gotta love a story that has big-ass dragon things which are adept enough to snatch gems from a belt and fly away. All this without destroying the castle in which the belt resided.

It loses it’s momentum a bit in the second episode, but it’s worth sticking with for the 3rd episode, an evil character that isn’t completely 2D? A female character that needs to help male characters? Yay, a decent fantasy! I’m not too keen on the character design either – but I like Jasmine – the girl next episode and her cute animal companions.

Although I am only up to the second episode, the actual book series is by far more engrossing. The text actually makes the monsters more scarier and the characters more developed. For example, Lief is actually quite intelligent and Jasmine has a particular wild trait in her that isn’t portrayed in the anime that well. But because I love the novel series so much, I’m willing to forgo anything for what the series might have visually been like =)

So yeah, if you like fantasy and somehow feel this series is lacking, give the books a go =D

change the “(possible) check!” about love interest to “check!” they get married… eventually… I’ve read the books (emily rodda) that the series is based on, it’s in the epilogue of the fifteenth(?) anyhoo look foward to watching the anime, it will make me laugh, very much so.

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I like it personally.. It’s not bad. It’s just like the books which were great.. but I like how some of the people turned out…

Heh, clueless boy hero…. I thought that even when I read the series.

I like the whole inclusion of 3D as well.. it adds (Dare I say it) Depth to the story.
I can’t wait to see that huge toad from the Mountain and I’m hoping they come out with the other series:
Deltora Shadowlands and Dragons of Deltora.

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I just have to say that I have loved the Deltora Quest books now for about 10 years now. I would choose Deltora Quest over Harry Potter any day. Anyway, when I heard that there was an anime for it I freaked out! I was so so excited that I called my parents, lol. I have been searching high and low for the episodes and I have only found 1-14 subbed, but I’ve watched almost the whole series RAW since i know the story and I can tell what’s going on by the character’s emotions.

About the anime itself, i really like the animation. It’s pretty traditional to me. The artists kinda got the character designs wrong since Jasmine is supposed to have black hair, but Emily Rodda does not usually focus on describing her characters so that the reader can make their own interpretations. She does describe the monsters and creatures, though, so I’m glad that the anime has basically stuck to that.

The anime follows the books up to a point. I started noticing a few subtle differences as the series went along. The biggest difference I saw was in the eighth book (Return to Del) where the ending was different from the book’s ending. It did keep me very engrossed, though, since I really wanted to know what happens lol. Also, the story continues into some other storylines that I know were not in the books and i have no clue what’s happening since they are RAW, though i finally get what’s going on by the end of the episode when it all clicks in my head.

I really love the characters in both the anime and the book. At first, it seems they are cookie cutter but when you journey with them through the books and anime you can see the growth. Like, Lief grows so much in the series. he may start out as the clueless boy hero, but he really changes. Also, some characters have a twist to them and you’re like “Whoa! I never knew!” and stuff like that.

Anyway, it’s time for me to reign in my Deltora obsession. haha Go read the books!!!